Elkton Again Saved from the British Torch

It was a warm summer evening along Little Elk Creek when the silence of that evening was broken: first by the sound of paddles, slapping the water, followed by the shouts of “fire” and the crack of muskets and rifles. Then more paddle splashes, cries of “huzzah” and then the quite returned. “Four of the enemy’s barges had been repulsed by a party of militia at Elkton, but that they were expected to return the seceding night in greater force.”
Thus began a memo from the Secretary of the United States Navy following an attack by British Marines against the forts at and near what is now Historic Elk Landing. The date was July 11th, 1814, over a year since the initial attack on the Head of Elk in April of 1813, an event which was observed and celebrated in historic reenactment and character interpretation last year. But this second attack came just one month before the British advanced on and burned Washington, D.C. and two months prior to the less successful bombardment of Fort McHenry, which resulted in the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Secretary John Rodgers acted on his fears of another British attack on Elkton as he ordered re-enforcements of men and materials.
“I was induced to order Lieutenant Morgan of the Navy, to march 250 of the officers and seamen attached to the flotilla, to his assistance, for the defense of that place and the surrounding country.” According to Secretary Rodgers, Lt. Morgan and his troops made it to Elkton in record time.

“In three hours and 47 minutes, the whole detachment, completely armed, reached the courthouse at Elkton, with two heavy pieces of traveling artillery, notwithstanding the roads were excessively bad, and the night very dark and rainy.”

According to a report posted on the Historic Elk Landing web site titled “The War of 1812 and How it Relates to Elk Landing,” the attack came the next day.

“The British attacked with 3 barges, but again were repulsed by the Elkton militia. Due to the difficulty of navigating to Elkton and the positioning of the forts as well as the militia itself, the British were never able to successfully attack Elkton nor burn it.”

This second and third attack on Elkton by the British during the War of 1812, takes a back seat to the events occurring in Washington D.C. and later Baltimore as well as at Elk Landing itself the previous year. It was during that first attack that Frenchtown, its wharfs, two packet boats, and some store houses were burned. But it was the bravery of a 19 year old slave woman named Hettie Boulden who saved Elkton from the British torch by directing a squad of British Marines right into the cross hairs of the muskets, rifles, and cannons posted at Forts Hollingsworth and Defiance. The underground remains of Fort Hollingsworth were located in the spring of 2012 and were outlined for the 2013 re-enactment. Both that 1813 and the July 1814 attacks were some of the very few failures encountered by the British in their efforts to subdue their former colonies during this “Second War of Independence,” as it is sometimes called. The President and Dolley Madison barely escaped Washington before the British arrived, sacking and burning the city. The British were not stopped again until they were repulsed at Fort McHenry a month later. The war would continue for another three months, ending with the Battle of New Orleans, which was actually fought AFTER the peace treating ending hostilities was signed. But now we remember and celebrate the brave men of the Cecil Militia who successfully defended their families, farms, and country from foreign invasion… 200 years ago today!

More information about Historic Elk Landing, the foundation, the War of 1812, and Fort Hollingsworth is located on the foundation web site at http://www.elklanding.org
For more information about the War of 1812 in Cecil County, contact the Historical Society of Cecil County at http://www.cecilhistory.org

The Battle of Elk Landing Revisited

Last April, the Historic Elk Landing Foundation observed and celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Elk Landing when British Marines advanced on Elk Landing in an attempt to take the fort by force. Thanks to the efforts of a local slave woman, Hettie Boulden, and the Cecil Militia manning the fort, the British were unsuccessful. However, this event did not happen in a vacuum. History, like nature, abhors a vacuum! As noted in his report on the discovery of Fort Hollingsworth in August of 2012, archeologist, James Gibb wrote that the British were essentially looking for revenge.
“(United States) land forces burned a number of Canadian towns, including the provincial capital of York (now Toronto), in many cases leaving the civilian inhabitants to survive the Canadian winter with little shelter or food.

Witness these secret orders from Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, to Colonel Sir Thomas Beckwith of the British Army dated 20 March 1813:

It having been judged expedient to effect a diversion of the Coasts of the United states of America, in favor of Upper and Lower Canada, which the American Government have declared it to be their intention to wrest from His Majesty in the course of the ensuing Campaign, Sir J. B. Warren will receive instructions to direct a Squadron to proceed with the troops named in the Margin [of this letter], towards the places on the Coast, where it may appear to him most advisable that a descent should be made.

The number and description of the Force placed under your Command, as well as the object of the Expedition itself, will point out to you that you are not to look to permanent possession of any place, but to the reëmbarking of the Force as soon as the immediate object of each particular attack shall have been accomplished.

As the object of the Expedition is to harass the Enemy by different attacks, you will avoid the risk of general action, unless it should become necessary to secure your retreat (Bathurst 1813, reproduced in Dudley 1992: 325).”

This is essentially what happened at Elk Landing. However, the local militia’s response caused a “general action” which the British did not want and thus resulted in their withdrawal.

Less celebrated, let alone observed, was a second battle at Elk Landing in July of 1814. Probably pushed into obscurity by another skirmish in Baltimore later that year involving Fort McHenry and the writing of a poem that just happened to become our National Anthem!

Gibb writes that prior to this second attack there was more correspondence between British naval officers. This time, the motivation for more attacks on American municipalities had changed as the British continued to look for strategic advantage.

“This is not to say that British strategy had devolved into revenge. It had not, as appears from a letter of Vice Admiral Cochrane of the Atlantic Squadron to Canada’s Governor-General Sir George Prevost, dated 11 March 1814:

And I hope to make a very considerable diversion in the Chesapeake Bay, to draw off in part the Enemy’s Efforts against Canada—I hope to be able to Keep the Enemy in a constant alarm so as to prevent their sparing any part of their Military force from the State, South of Delaware, which if I succeed in, I do not believe from the temper of the Eastern states that they will be able to recruit their Army from thence (Cochranne to Prevost, 11 March 1814; reproduced in Crawford 2002: 39-40).”

We’ll review the events of April, 1813 in a few weeks.

Camp Followers at Elk Landing

This Saturday, this Memorial Day weekend, the Historic Elk Landing Foundation will sponsor another unique look at military life, this time in the American Revolutionary War.  We all know about General George Washington, and Britain’s Generals Howe and Cornwallis, but how much do we know about the people who kept the soldiers together and on the move?  How much do we know about especially the women who did the cooking, mending, laundry, childcare, and nursing of the sick and wounded back to health?  Did you know that some of these women, known as “Camp Followers,” were not only fed (half rations), but were paid a small stipend in some cases?  And a few even found themselves in combat when their husbands were wounded.  Well, it’s true.  And this Saturday the women members of the Cecil Militia will explain what their duties were and what life was like as a camp follower in General Washington’s Continental Army. 

Our gates will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday when you are invited to tour the Cecil Militia camp and talk to the costumed interpreters about life in Washington’s army from a women’s point of view.  We will also offer tours of our 2 centuries old Hollingsworth House at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.  The program will wrap up at 2 p.m.

Admission is free.

Contact Linda Parrish at Linda.Parrish@ncs.k12.de.us

Thank You!

The guns are silent.  The actors’ lines have been delivered.  The grill is put away.  Only the memories and the history remain.  The Battle of Elk Landing: A Bicentennial Celebration is concluded.  Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported our celebration at Historic Elk Landing this past weekend, marking the 200^th anniversary of the day the British Navy came in an attempt to terrorize Cecil County during the War of 1812.  At least 73 guests, both young and old, came to witness and enjoy our celebration in perfect weather conditions.  They heard Mary Hollingsworth, Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample, and Hetty Boulden tell their stories of that time, 200 years ago, when the people of Elkton defeated the most powerful Navy in the world.  Elk Landing’s story is unique to the region: Charlestown was partially burned.  Frenchtown was burned.  Havre de Grace was half burned.  Only Elkton was spared, thanks to the quick thinking of a 20 year old slave woman and the bravery of the Cecil Militia. Think about it.  The British threw 400 men on 12 river barges at Forts Defiance and Hollingsworth with their 100 or so militia members, and the home team won!  Quite an achievement.  That history was relived this past weekend with members of the modern day Cecil Militia returning to the very spot where, 2 centuries ago, our ancestors stood, fought, and won.  Hetty Boulden returned to tell how she fooled the British into believing she was taking them to Elkton when she was really taking them into an ambush.  Mary Hollingsworth explained how her son joined those militiamen and how she worried about him, but supported him in his gallant effort.  And finally, Judge Sample, returning from his home in Indiana, noted how he and his father manned Fort Hollingsworth, how the British came, and how, when the war was won, the town celebrated, with near disastrous results.  Vigilance, training, hard work, and loyalty were all on display then and recalled this past weekend.

We at the Historic Elk Landing Foundation hope you enjoyed the celebration and our experiment in Living History Theatre.  We did.  Based on your response, maybe we’ll do it again sometime. Thanks to God for the great weather.  Thanks to the board members and their friends and families who worked to make the event possible.  Thanks to the Cecil Militia members, the only militia members who volunteered to share in our celebration.  And a very special thank you to Mike Collins, Paula Smith, Linda Parrish, and Gordy Johnson who portrayed Judge Sample, Hetty Boulden, Mary Hollingsworth, and William Hollingsworth, bringing them alive once again to share their stories with us.

You can enjoy pictures of The Battle of Elk Landing: A Bicentennial Celebration, posted on our web site at www.elklanding.org   In addition, a great deal of research information about the War of 1812 and how it played out in CecilCounty is also available on the site.

Our next event is Saturday, May 25^th, Memorial Day weekend, when the Cecil Militia will return for a Revolutionary War encampment.  On that Saturday, Camp Followers, the women who kept the army cleaned, fed, sometimes nursed back to health, and inspired, will share their stories of daily military camp life during the Revolutionary War.  We’ll share more about that event in the days and weeks ahead.  Until then… thank you.

The Historic Elk Landing Foundation Presents…

The Battle of Elk Landing:

A Bicentennial Celebration

Living History Theatre!

 

Friday April 26^th 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. (Candle Light)

Saturday April 27^th 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.

 

Meet:  Mary Hollingsworth, the matriarch of the Hollingsworth family, Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample who wrote about his teenaged experiences as the son of a militia leader, and Hetty Boulden, the African American slave woman who was commandeered to take the British to Elkton, but instead, took them to an ambush at Fort Hollingsworth 200 years ago. 

Friday night admission for each candle light tour (6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.): $5 per person 12 years old and over.  $3 per person under 12 years of age. 

Saturday: Site open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Site admission includes tours of Ft. Hollingsworth and our 2 War of 1812 era houses, plus one living history theatre tour (11 a.m. or 2 p.m.): $5 per person 12 years old and over.  $3 per person under 12 years of age. 

All tours are by reservation only.  Please call and leave a message on our voice mail system at 410-620-6400: number of persons, ages, day and specific tour. 

See our web site, www.elklanding.com for event details and directions.

Terrorism: Then and Now

Terrorism was not born yesterday in Boston, nor was it born at Newtown, Aurora, or Oklahoma City.  It wasn’t even born on September 11^th, 2001.  Terrorism has been around and utilized by many different peoples around the world over the centuries.  An early example of terrorism in the United States occurred right in the Chesapeake Bay when, in April of 1813, British soldiers, sailors, and Marines sought out and put to the torch wharfs, warehouses, and whole towns up and down the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  They succeeded in Frenchtown and partially so in Havre de Grace, but not in Elkton.  With the help of a 20 year old slave woman, a group of rag tag citizen soldier Cecil Militiamen successfully fended off an attack by a superior force and saved Elkton.

On Friday and Saturday, April 26^th and 27^th you can hear firsthand accounts of how that attack was perpetrated and turned away from 3 individuals who were there.  See our web site at www.elklanding.org for details.

The Battle of Elk Landing: A Bicentennial Celebration

Friday April 26^th 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Saturday April 27^th 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On Friday evening, April 26^th, step back in time and walk amongst the Cecil Militia units that manned Fort Hollingsworth on the eve of the War of 1812 battle and hear their impressions of the pending conflict.  Through our unique candle light living history theatre walking tours, interact with three persons who were there in 1813:  Mary Hollingsworth, the matriarch of the Hollingsworth family, Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample who wrote about his teenaged experiences as the son of a militia leader, and Hetty Boulden, the African American slave woman who was commandeered to take the British to Elkton, but instead, took them to an ambush in front of the guns of Fort Hollingsworth 200 years ago. 

Then on Saturday, April 27^th, trod where those brave men also trod who defended the newly rediscovered Fort Hollingsworth.  See where the battle took place and hear about how it transpired from our resident expert and militia re-enactors. Tour the houses that housed the Hollingsworth family during the battle. And, if you missed it on Friday night, experience the living history theatre in two walks: one at 11 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m. All tours by reservation only.  See our web site, www.elklanding.com for event details

Hollingsworth Estates

Zebulon Hollingsworth, Jr., the son of Captain Zebulon Hollingsworth, Senior of Revolutionary War fame; the husband of Mary Hollingsworth, and the father of several children, departed this earth in 1812, leaving his family and quite a sizable estate.  Two years later, that estate was finally probated and a distribution of cash began.  That cash amounted to over $7200!  This distribution does not include land and other holdings.  Some of those went to his wife, Mary, who died later in 1814.  Her estate papers are also in the position of the Historic Elk Landing Foundation and they give us a glimpse into some of the possessions of the matriarch of an early 19^th century plantation. 

First Zeb’s cash distribution on March 7^th, 1814.Mrs. Hollingsworth received over $3300, the largest of the distribution.  Next was son William who was also the executor of his father’s estate.  William received over $1300.

The rest of the money went, in equal payments of $621.57 to: son Levi, a daughter, Margaret and her husband William Cooch; Robert, John, and another William, all Hollingsworths.   This Margaret is the same daughter to whom her father left a former slave woman, and now indentured servant, named Jenny, some 8 years earlier.

 Mary’s estate sale, on October 17^th, 1814, is not nearly as glamorous or valuable as her husband’s cash distribution.  The sum total of her sale brought in only $720, just ten percent of her husband’s value earlier that same year.

 Estate sale items included: tea trays, tea pots, bed sheets, a total of 11 chairs, one square walnut table, blankets, and a lone “rag carpet” that was from “the floor of the Stone House.”  That structure, which was used as a house, a warehouse, office, and tavern, was built in the 1780s by her late husband, and it still stands today, nestled along the Little Elk Creek, ready for you to explore. 

 

 Copies of Zebulon’s estate distribution and his wife, Mary’s estate sale can be reviewed on the Historic Elk Landing web site at www.elklanding.org.  Click on History, Timeline, and the year 1812 for Zeb’s papers and 1814 for Mary’s.

The Battle of Elk Landing, A Bicentennial Celebration

On April 29^th, 1813, a British naval unit attached and burned the wharfs at Frenchtown and two nearby packet boats.  They then went to the plantation of Frisby Henderson seeking directions to Elkton, the county seat.  Their purpose, to burn it to the ground as American forces had done to several Canadian towns the year before. 

Frisby refused to betray Elkton’s location.  The marines then turned to a 20 year old slave woman, Hetty Boulden and told her if she would take them to Elkton, they would give her more money than she could imagine.  This courageous young woman then took the British Marines, not to Elkton, but to the confluence of the Big and Little Elk Creeks where they stared straight into the guns of Forts Hollingsworth and Defiance. Although the British would try at least twice more to take the town, ultimately, they were unsuccessful.  Elkton was saved.

On Friday and Saturday, April 26^th and 27^th, the Historic Elk Landing Foundation presents, “The Battle of Elk Landing, a Bicentennial Celebration.” That weekend, through the magic of living history theatre, Ms. Boulden will return to us to tell her story on the 200^th anniversary of its occurrence.  She will interact with visitors in the very location of Fort Hollingsworth which defended Elkton so well.  She, along with two other living history characters: Mary Hollingsworth, the matriarch of the Hollingsworth family in 1813, and Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample, who gave us so many details of the events 2 centuries ago, will take visitors back in time and tell, in their own words, their stories which impacted Elkton, Cecil County, and the region.

Friday evening will feature 2 candle light tours including the living history theatre and an encampment of Cecil Militia.  The first will begin at 6, the second at 7:30.  Admission is $5 for persons 12 years old and older and $3 for persons under 12 years of age.

The “Battle of Elk Landing, a Bicentennial Celebration” will continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. when the Elk Landing grounds will open for tours of the houses that were on site during the 1813 battle, an explanation and tour of the newly discovered Fort Hollingsworth, a military encampment, examples of life in 1813 presented by the Heritage Troupe, and 2 more performances of the living history presentation: the first at 11 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m.  Admission for the day, including one tour, is $5 for persons 12 years old and older.  Persons under 12 are $3.  Refreshments will be available at cost.

Reservations for the individual living history tours are required as group tour sizes are limited.  Reservations can be made by calling and leaving a voice message at 410-620-6400.  Please include your name, the number of tickets requested by age, the day and time of the tour requested, and a call back phone number.

See our web site at http://www.elklanding.org for more information on the War of 1812 at Elk Landing and directions.  Like us on Facebook for updates in April. 

“That Old Mud Fort at Elk Landing”

Ezekiel F. Chambers was born on February 28^th, 1788 in Chestertown, Maryland. Unless you are a Maryland history buff, that name probably doesn’t mean much.  But, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Chambers was a veteran of the War of 1812 and attained the rank of Brigadier General of the Militia.  Later, Chambers served in the Maryland State Senate, the United States Senate, and finally, as governor of Maryland. But Governor Chambers career almost never happen as the result of an occurrence in 1815 at Elk Landing.

The incident was described by Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample in a letter to the editor of the Cecil Whig that he penned in July of 1880.  It was one of a dozen editorials Judge Sample scribed from his retirement home in Indiana that the paper titled “Reminiscences” and published over several years. According to the Judge it all started when word reached Elkton in February of 1815 that the War of 1812 had ended. Judge Sample notes an impromptu party to celebrate took place at Elk Landing’s Fort Hollingsworth.

“As soon as the news came, court adjourned in a hurry and everybody hurried to the Landing to fire a salute,” Judge Sample wrote. “The river was solid ice.  A barrel was located some distance down the river on the ice.  The guns were loaded.  The 12 pounder at the north port-hole of the battery was managed by (Ezekiel F.) Chambers”

Judge Sample then described what happened when the gun was fired involving Chambers and the Stone House that still stands at Elk Landing.

“About a hundred feet from the gun was the old stone house.  There were in the gable two windows, in the garret small apertures.  In each of these windows was a little girl,” Judge Sample reports, “looking down the river to see the ball strike.  I stood upon the parapet, looking down the river.  The two men, who had loaded the gun, had stuck into its muzzle a frozen clod.  When the gun was fired by Chambers, it bursted.”  But that’s not the worst of it, according to Judge Sample.  “A large piece of the gun, I suppose weighing fifty pounds,” Sample guesses, “was driven through one of those gable windows where the little girls stood.  Not a person was killed or even badly hurt.  Chambers was bruised a little.  The hand of God was plainly manifested then.”  The hand of God indeed! 

Judge Sample goes on to describe Chambers as a lawyer “from one of the lower counties.”  “Many years afterwards,” Judge Sample continues, “I met Col. Chambers at Newport, Rhode Island.  He was a gentleman, but a high-toned Southerner.”  He died in 1867.

Judge Sample, who was about 14 years old at the time of the near tragedy, was lucky that February day too.  He writes that he was “on the bank not ten feed from where Chambers stood” and the canon exploded into pieces.